While the life-saving benefits of sprinklers are undisputed and well-known, the inclusion of automated sprinkler systems within offices can add value to a scheme by increasing design options, saving on capital costs and reducing the construction programme. An adequate level of fire safety is a statutory requirement but the decision as to how the fire safety measures are achieved is down to the designer.

A recent BSA report, produced by leading engineering consultancy WSP: The Impact of Automatic Sprinklers on Building Design – Commercial Sector, Offices, outlines the beneficial impact that incorporating sprinklers can have and how they can add value to building design. Sprinklers are a key component in the long-term strategy of any building and if considered early in the design process, they can be included at little, and sometimes at no cost.

One of the key advantages of an automatic sprinkler system is it enables the balancing of fire protection measures which in turn opens up a number of significant design opportunities. An office which has automatic sprinklers allows occupants more time to escape when a fire occurs, which for the designer means they can incorporate longer travel distances and narrower door and stair widths, freeing up their design. In addition, the maximum travel distances in an office building can be increased by around 15% when an automatic sprinkler system is incorporated. This provides flexibility in the location of staircases and reduces the necessity of introducing escape corridors.

Another design benefit with sprinklers is in the number of firefighting shafts and fire mains can be adjusted. In a building without sprinklers, a firefighting shaft should be provided such that no part of a floor is more than 45 metres from a fire main outlet in a protected stairway. If a building is fitted with sprinklers, the distance can be increased to 60 metres.

Sprinklers act to limit fire growth so that compartment sizes can be increased, which in turn offers additional design options. In addition to greater freedom in the building layout, sprinklers can work to contain a fire and limit fire to the compartment of origin.

Building Regulations Approved Document B recommends that buildings are separated sufficiently, or that a portion of the building’s facade should be fire-resistant to prevent fire spreading between buildings. The area of facade required to be fire-rated is proportional to the distance between the facade and the site boundary. However, because automatic sprinklers inhibit fire size and therefore spread of fire, the non-fire-resistant area of facade can be doubled, giving designers greater flexibility in facade design and layout.

In addition to the flexibility introduced in terms of the façade material and internal layouts, there is a misconception that sprinkler heads cannot be concealed and are visually unappealing. The use of concealed heads, however, ensures that they can be discreet when desired.

Ultimately, the consideration of automatic sprinklers at the earliest stages of the design will enable stakeholders to realise and benefit from a wealth of design freedoms. Through robust research and by looking at different building types and design options, the consideration of automatic sprinklers should be part of any robust design development for a new office project.

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Productivity, well-being and happy employees are all key considerations in the ideal office environment. With noise being high on the list of annoyances in the workplace and a cause of work-related stress, how can designers and specifiers create a quieter office place, improve privacy and deliver exceptional floor-to-floor, room-to-room sound reductions?
The office has changed quite dramatically over the years, with informal, open-plan and flexible spaces replacing the more formal enclosed and private rooms of the past. This flexible working ends up having a knock-on effect - increasing the level of occupation, upping noise levels, which in turn hinders productivity.
Acoustics, like lighting, should be an integral part of good architectural design and when it is done well, is a significant contributor to the well-being and productivity of the office employee. From the outset it’s important to use materials which will achieve good acoustics and solve any sound transmission issues. The designer must also not only satisfy the legislative requirements, but the client or end user’s ‘wish list’ of acoustic behaviour. Proper acoustics, the unobtrusive sum of all sounds, is the key objective for a comfortable environment.
Cross-talk
The sound separation achieved between adjoining rooms or offices is often severely limited by ‘cross-talk’ via a common void. This common problem occurs when the transmission loss associated with this sound path is less than that provided by the primary separating element, for example, a partition. Voids affected by ‘cross-talk’ include:
* Suspended ceiling voids at partitions,
* Access floor voids below partitions
* Cavities at floor slab edges to façades.
To effectively reduce sound transmission or ‘cross-talk’ via hidden voids which sit above office partitions, ceiling void barriers should be installed directly in-line with the partition.
The Sound Reduction Index or SRI (Rw) of the cavity barrier is not normally required to equal that of the partition itself. This is due to the presence of other obstructions in the room-to-room sound path such as the suspended ceiling. The individual performance of the barrier need only be sufficient to correct the shortfall between the partition and the untreated cross-talk path.
Suspended ceiling systems
The actual value of these paths can vary substantially. For ceiling voids, 15-40dB Dnf,w (DnCw) would usually be associated with most suspended ceiling systems. An acoustic engineer can assess a minimum SRI value for the cavity barrier with knowledge of either the existing overall path value or details of the individual path obstructing elements.
Occasionally conditions arise that demand substantially higher SRI values of the cavity barrier, such as ceiling voids formed by open-cell or substantially perforated suspended ceilings. Twin barrier or multiple element arrangements can then be employed to accommodate almost all possible sound performance criteria. In this situation, Rw values are for the barrier arrangement alone. Room-to-room performance (DnCw) would normally be significantly higher.
Curtains to noise
When you combine the evolving and changing nature of the workplace with modern lightweight construction, such as curtain walls, this can also present a number of challenges when it comes to acoustics.
The overall sound performance in a curtain wall building is effectively controlled by the ‘weakest link’. This means that very careful consideration should be given to any potential weak point to ensure it does not become the ‘limiting factor’ in the overall sound transmission performance. The curtain wall together with the movement joint should all be considered as potential weak points and thoroughly assessed accordingly.
Making it soundtight
Involved in projects throughout the world and having manufactured acoustic and fire insulation products for more than 40 years, SIDERISE offer a large range of tried and tested product enhancements specifically developed for both building interiors and the façade industry. From flexible and semi-rigid acoustic barriers for suspended ceilings to acoustic void closures for tops of walls and fire stops for profiled decks, the ceiling void barrier range is designed to effectively reduce sound transmission via hidden voids.
Designed to reduce vertical and horizontal sound transmission in curtain wall buildings, this comprehensive range includes a choice of effective and proven acoustic void barriers and barrier overlays for facades that deal with all common sound path problems and are frequently used to assist in reducing flanking transmission between adjacent internal areas.
Acoustic comfort in the built environment has become a concern to society and a challenge to designers. It is all too common when considering the specification of the seal between the slab edge and the facade, for product selection to be based exclusively in terms of compliance to the relevant fire regulations. For façade engineers, architects and their clients, it is essential that due consideration is given to both the acoustic implications and performance of the closure arrangement, ensuring any potential weak point in curtain walled buildings is controlled.
The cavity seal should ideally always be selected at the design stage because at this point, the largest range of suitable products is potentially available to the designer. Products can therefore be selected based on cost-effectiveness, ease of installation, and acoustic performance. Post or remedial treatment severely limits available product selection. Also it is invariably more expensive, less practical to install and may not always be fully compliant.
Often the acoustic design of offices does not receive the attention that most other architectural systems would. A superior acoustic environment should be a given. The use of performance enhancing products will mitigate against these issues and ensure any potential noise issues within offices are eliminated.
By:Mike Carrick AMIOA, Head of Acoustics at Siderise Group
Visit: www.siderise.com

Poorly-insulated homes can have an adverse effect on the health of the occupants, particularly the very young or elderly during winter months. The issue becomes more acute in multi-occupancy buildings. With a fair chunk of the UK’s social housing stock having been built in the 1960s, much of it is showing signs of age and disrepair. Ben Warren, Managing Director at global building materials manufacturer, Baumit, considers how improved insulation and internal plaster can tackle issues with mould and damp for the long-term benefit and wellbeing of the building and occupier.
Creating better-insulated homes is more than about keeping occupiers warm and dry. It’s equally about facilitating an indoors environment in which residents can live happily and healthily for as long as they remain. Ageing buildings and the UK’s wet, mild climate provide the perfect storm for damp to thrive. This is particularly concerning when multi-occupancy, social housing buildings are affected, as these provide affordable accommodation for many elderly people and young families. Long-term exposure to mould and damp can lead to chronic health issues for the more vulnerable members of society.
Big decisions
The importance of choosing the right insulation is therefore paramount to creating interiors in which occupants can thrive. When it comes to deciding between external or internal wall insulation, it’s very much a case of horses for courses, as any selection will be based upon what the building’s owner is hoping to achieve or the age and type of brick the property is constructed from. For landlords of privately-owned multi-occupancy buildings, financial considerations might conclude an EWI system is more appropriate, and here’s why: from a rental point of view, if you have a room that is 5m2,to provide a decent level of internal wall insulation would require a minimum build-up of 15cm. This would result in a 6% reduction in floor area, which might not sound like a huge amount, but could equate to a significant incremental loss in buildings containing several properties. Loss of floor space equals loss of income for the landlord, therefore in such instances there’s a commercial argument for choosing external wall insulation.
In terms of external wall insulation systems applied to housing association properties, acrylic top coats are very much in vogue. It’s an option primarily based on cost. Local authority funding has been cut to the bone across the board - every pound is being accounted for. It means, although an insulation system specified for a council-owned building might fit the budget, it’s not necessarily best for the property or its occupants’ long-term well-being.
Through everyday living, residents create water vapour. Baths, washing, cooking…it all creates steam - even breathing. Now, consider how much vapour is generated in a multi-occupancy building containing, say, 150 tenants. All that vapour will pass through the building’s elements, but in cases where the EWI contains a non-vapour permeable acrylic topcoat, the vapour will be trapped. This can lead to condensation and the dreaded “d” word – damp. Therefore, an external wall solution that might have appeared cost-effective in the immediate-to-short-term could potentially result in unnecessary and unforeseen expenditure.
Let it breathe
Applying non-breathable EWI to a building causes what might be referred to as the “plastic bag effect” - walls can become cloaked in condensation from non-escaping vapour. To create a breathable outer layer for buildings private or public, a silicon-based finish render, such as Baumit’s SilikonTop, is preferable. Water-repellent, stain and weather resistant, the system provides a robust white or coloured façade. It’s easily applied to mineral renders old and new, providing a decorative, vapour-permeable topcoat that makes for an attractive exterior, whilst optimising occupants’ living environment.
Another benefit of ‘going external’ when it comes to wall insulation? EWI removes the dew-point - the temperature below which water droplets condense – from the inside of a building to prevent condensation forming. Baumit openSystem provides a perfect example of an EWI system that let’s go of moisture and retains airtightness. Its unique perforated Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) façade insulation boards ensure high vapour permeability, resulting in the release, rather than the entrapment, of water vapour. It has the added benefit of having no effect on a building’s airtightness.
OpenSystem comprises six, high-quality vapour permeable components. It includes Baumit NanoporTop, an innovative self-cleaning topcoat render which uses ‘photokat’ photocatalysis technology to create optimum protection against contamination using the power of light.
The system is also made up of Baumit PremiumPrimer, a superior quality primer for pre-treatment of hard or non-absorbent mineral substrates; and the aforementioned EPS boards. When applied as part of a new-build or refurbishment project, each component helps increase a structure’s ‘breathability’ to collectively offer outstanding levels of insulation. In short: EWI improves the aesthetics on the outside and the building’s thermal performance without affecting the interior space.
Successful wall insulation, whether exterior or interior, is largely dependent on the correct system being specified for the appropriate environment. The consequences of getting it wrong could prove disastrous for building owner and occupant. With interior walls, for instance, this could lead to condensation forming on the surface of the inner face, or even worse, interstitial condensation within the wall that may result in material failures. Vapour permeability is as important to internal wall systems as external ones. Baumit’s range of lime-based, thin-coat plasters offers an excellent option for interior walls. Baumit KlimaDekor, for example, is vapour permeable and low in emissions, making it a high-performance, environmentally-friendly, breathable plaster.
Whilst internal wall insulation might be viewed as a less cost-effective option, particularly for owners of multi-tenanted buildings, for single projects it could provide the aesthetic as well as thermal solution. For example, when installing insulation to a semi-detached house, it might be that you want to retain a brick façade to ensure it mirrors the neighbouring property. An interior system is therefore a great solution. It’s worth being aware, however, that interior wall insulation will incur some disruption for residents, whereas external systems can be applied without installers requiring access to a property’s interior.
External or internal wall insulation? Each has its benefits, but neither will be effective long-term without the vital human element, which means specifying the correct system for the appropriate purpose.
Visit: http://www.baumit.co.uk

There is no doubting the fact that first impressions count. Our first impressions are generated by an experience and our surrounding environment. This can all happen in the blink of an eye. Office receptions are a prime example of where first impressions count. We walk into a building and get an impression of the organisation we are going to see. So, what makes a good reception and how are they changing the way in which we interact as buildings evolve?
Last week the British Council for Offices (BCO) launched a new report entitled ‘first impressions – the evolution of office receptions and hospitality services and what it means for the office industry’. The report looks at how the office reception has evolved and is now an integral part of modern office design, and makes us consider exactly what the function of a good office reception is.
In the past, the reception was largely regarded as the place where staff and visitors arrived. It was a functional space. Things have changed. Arriving is now an experience and it’s not just offices - think of how checking-in at an airport, a restaurant or hotel has changed. It is no longer a functional space, but a space that influences how you are feeling and what you think of a particular company or brand.
The BCO report identifies that modern office space is changing – fewer people sit at a desk and there is more emphasis on giving staff and visitors a choice of working and meeting environments. In the same way, the reception has evolved. Property developer Sir Stuart Lipton, founder of Stanhope plc, likens the reception to the town square with a sense of civic identity and communities surrounding it in ‘vertical villages’.
The report looks into three different typologies: - office developments in single occupancy; office developments with multiple occupancy and serviced offices/co-working. Including case studies from across the three different types, the qualitative and quantitative approach has led to some interesting discoveries and conclusions.
One shining example of how office receptions have evolved is the White Collar Factory. Located near Old Street, it is a brave and bold iteration of architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) five-year research project for developer Derwent London. In creating the 16-storey building, Derwent London launched a competition to design the ‘future reception’. The winning scheme by Studio Seilern dissolved the reception into a free accessible garden space where the access to the office turns into a butterfly enclosure and the garden is the receptionist. In doing this, they have taken the office reception and turned it into a social space that is an extension of the public realm. Now, this is just a future vision, rather than a reality, but it shows where we are heading – gone are the days of polished marble and Le Corbusier armchairs, in are spaces that create surprise and intrigue whilst being accessible, flexible and multi-functional.
Other areas that the report lookED at were issues around delivery and storage such as the inclusion of Amazon lockers, the inclusion of cafés and restaurants, shared meeting spaces, retail, pop-up shops, exhibition and event spaces, bike storage and libraries.
The report observed three models of office reception – the inclusive model where the reception area is open to the public; the sheltered inclusive that controls external access and only allows employees and visitors in, and the exclusive model where the security line is outside of the building and where visitors and employees are spatially separated. It is also interesting to note that from the case studies, two design strategies were identified – linear and immersive. Linear is the more traditional approach where there is a reception and visitors enter off the street and check-in, wait in a seating area before proceeding to the main workspace for a meeting. However, many of the new office buildings are featuring immersive receptions where visitors can mingle with staff in an informal setting. This approach creates a buzz and a sense of activity which heightens the impact of the building and therefore influences our first impression.
That’s not to say the traditional linear reception offers a bad first impression, but it is one we are more accustomed to and as such expecting. The immersive reception is one of experience and as such leaves a longer impression. In a fast-paced, ever-changing world, something that leaves a lasting impression on us can have a profound effect. So, next time you visit an office, take a look around and ask yourself, what does this reception say about this company and what’s my first impression?
By Steven Argent, Construction Director at QOB Group

Floor installation in large commercial and industrial premises can be an extremely arduous challenge. Coordinating the project’s various elements such as specification, installation and aftercare requirements - not to mention obtaining a guarantee of the flooring system’s long-term performance - can involve a myriad of companies whose systems must be compatible with each other and the surface to which they are being applied.
Single-point service
Time is money in business, which is why every aspect of a commercial floor’s refurbishment must run as seamlessly as possible in order to minimise disruption to staff and production levels. This is achieved with fewer issues and - potentially - far less cost when a single supplier is responsible for the start-to-finish delivery of new flooring. This includes providing all the technical expertise, quality materials, workmanship and a single-point warranty as part of a service as seamless as the finished flooring itself. It’s an offering Sika has been successfully providing for clients far and wide for many years.
Each floor has a unique set of requirements: from traffic and mechanical wear to chemical resistance and temperature or fire resistance and rapid curing, to name but a few. A single-point supplier is able to negotiate that convoluted path of possible solutions to specify and provide precisely the right materials for the appropriate job, thus relieving the client of dealing with a crucial issue that will ultimately decide whether a project succeeds or fails.
This single point of contact approach simplifies logistics which is also good news for the installer. Instead of having to juggle the delivery of each separate flooring element from a number of suppliers, it’s possible to break down your shipment so you receive delivery of the correct product when you need it, keeping your build programme on track. And when you consider that most sites have limited space, it’s best to avoid all flooring materials arriving at the same time.
With more than 40 years’ experience and a leader in the development of innovative flooring systems, Sika is well placed to provide specifiers and installers with a range of products that take into account design life, operational requirements, construction joints and installation details. No matter what the application, Sika can provide the one-stop-shop total flooring solution.
On the level
Sika can start with the substrate, with a new range of self-levelling cementitious compounds which can meet an almost unlimited combination of substrate requirements to create a perfectly flat finish each and every time. No matter what the material is below or whatever finish you require on top, the new portfolio of self-levelling compounds and primers are easy to apply, quick drying and have very low shrinkage, ready for a huge range of floor coverings.
Used in conjunction with Sika’s Flooring range, these new Sika screeds enable the company to become one of the select few manufacturers to offer a total floor specification solution backed-up with a single guarantee for total build up.
With the Schonox range of products allied to the rest of the Sika Screed range there is now five different new self-levelling compounds and three primers, allied to the rest of the comprehensive Sika range, there is now a Sika cementitious flooring solution for every type of non-industrial project – from homes to offices, schools and healthcare premises. Furthermore, you will find the perfect substrate for all the popular types of floor finish, including parquet, vinyl, linoleum and LVT or resin flooring.
Thanks to Sika’s one-stop-shop solution, it’s never been to ensure your business is equipped with suitable, high-quality flooring that is installed to last.
Visit: www.sika.co.uk.

Jun 29, 2018 0

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